Feeding Tubes in Patients with Advanced Dementia

Some surrogate decision makers opt for placing percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tubes to prolong life in patients with advanced dementia. Researchers used the Minimum Data Set (a federally mandated comprehensive assessment of nursing home residents) and Medicare claims data to determine whether PEG tubes actually delayed death in 36,000 nursing home residents with advanced dementia who had recently transitioned to a need for assistance with eating.

Five percent of patients received PEG tubes during the study period. In multivariate analyses adjusted for clinical differences between the PEG and no-PEG groups, 1-year survival was virtually identical in the two groups — about 50%.